Polymetaal

Polymetaal, printmaking equipment.
A technical dictionary of print making by André Béguin.

The content of this dictionary has been reproduced, with permission of the author.

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A print is the result of an impression. This is what distinguishes it from a drawing, a manuscript, and a painting. It is also the reason for which it can be reproduced in many examples.
The printing of a print is done using a printing element of which there are various kinds, these various kinds are classed according to the way in which the ink is placed on their surface, in fact, it is essential to differenciate, in one way or another, the areas that will receive ink from those that will not.
The following table is in function of the abovementioned distinction as to the ways of inking and the types of printing elements used. Furthemore, the reader will find the various techniques connected to each class of inking.

SOLUTIONS	PRINTING ELEMENTS	INKING AND IMPRESSION	MANUAL TECHNIQUE	INDUSTRIAL TECHNIQUE	COMMENTS
WOODCUT (metal cuts, etc.) the ink is on the relief area, the dra-wing is also in relief. MATERIALS USED: wood, lino, metal, plastic,stone		inking done with a roller sparing the hollows block presses against printed surface *impression: black on white	woodcuts, xylography, linocut, plastic cutting, stone, plaster, metal and stamping	typography (letter press printing) line block	very slight relief of the blacks on the verso side for wood. clarity of typographical printing
WHITE LINE the ink is on relief areas the drawing is in the intaglio areas MATERIALS USED: wood (end grain), lino, metal, plastic, stone		inking done with a roller sparing the lower areas block pressed against printed surface *impression: white on black	woodengraving on endgrain wood, linotype, engraving on stone, plastic, metal, plaster, goffering, dotted manner, punch engraving	inversed line block half tone	*no relief except for goffering
INTAGLIO the ink is in the intaglio areas the drawing is also in intaglio MATERIALS USED: metal		inking of the intaglio areas done with a dabber followed by wiping the plate. printed surface pressed onto the plate so that it is pushed into the lines. *impression: black on white	aquatint line engraving etching, dry point crayon manner mezzotint brush etching	photogravure or heliogravure stamping (with or without ink)	the printing provokes a kind of golfering of the paper (plate mark, etc.) lines are slightly in relief
CHEMICAL METHOD the ink catches only the areas that have been drawn and prepared no reliefs MATERIALS USED: stone, zinc, aluminium		chemical preparation of the printing element inking done with a roller printed surface pressed against printing surface impression: black on white or white on black	lithography zincography algraphy anastatic impressions	lithography offset phototype	the pressure exerted by the stone in lithography is slightly visible lines have no relief *difficult to recognize a mechanical impression
STENCIL METHOD the ink goes through only in the open areas MATERIALS USED: silk, nylon, metal grids, bristol, light metal		stopping up of areas that are not drawn ink forced through the cloth or through the stencil printed surface below the screen or stencil impression: black on white or white on black	serigraphy hand made stencelling	serigraphy (manual, semi-mechanical, mechanical	impression has no relief but ink may produce slight relief difficult to distnguish manual from mechanical impressions
SIMPLE MANUAL TRANSFER ink is applied directly with a brush MATERIALS USED: glass, marble		*only one step: printed surface pressed onto inked surface	monotype		*at times it can be used to make as many as three impressions but only the first will be intensely inked
PHOTOGRAPHY light sensitive surface exposed with manual negative of glass or plastic		manually made negative by scratching an opaque cliché photographic printing	glass print photograms	photography (non-manual negative)